Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Oolong Tea in the United States

Tea Farm, Minto Island Growers, Salem, Oregon

Truth be told,
we Americans love tea. Intertwined with America’s history from the
beginning, tea consumption has evolved in pace with the nation’s
cultural climate. We went from hopped up rhetoricists drawing the
concentrate from a samavar to microwaving water and adding a teabag,
and sipping sweetened iced tea. Tracing the roots of America's tea
culture, inevitably leads to the Boston Tea Party.

However, tea
culture in America has evolved considerably since the Colonial and
wartime eras and now embraces a wide spectrum of cultural traditions,
including those of Taiwan and China. What are the marketing barriers
for high end tea such as Taiwanese oolongs in the US? Are you excited
about growing and producing tea in the US?